Middle of the Night, That's Alright
by osnapitzs
Summary: He could tell something was wrong when she showed up on his front step at one in the morning, mascara oozing down her face, soaking wet from the rain.


_There I was, trying to write chapter 6 for Middle of Adventure, and this wrote itself instead. It's AU, unedited and frankly I'm not sure how well it's written. That being said, I hope you enjoy it. _

* * *

_**Middle of the Night, That's Alright**_

It started on an early Sunday morning.

Derrick could tell something was wrong when she showed up on his front step at one in the morning, mascara oozing down her face, soaking wet from the rain. His brown eyes narrowed, knitting his eyebrows together as he stepped back to allow her into his house.

"Massie, what's going on?"

She just shook her head, clearly unable to form a coherent sentence. He motioned for her to go upstairs to his bedroom. This clearly had to do with his asshole of a "friend" Cam Fisher.

"I'll make hot chocolate, go dry off," he instructed gently.

Massie appeared to have walked several blocks in the thunderstorm to his house after whatever had gone down with her boyfriend. She nodded numbly and headed up the stairs, stopping to grab her favourite fuzzy blanket of his from his den on her way. He made two cups of hot chocolate as quickly as humanly possible and grabbed a bag of mini marshmallows for her to drop into the mug.

When he got to his room, she was sitting on the end of his bed, looking down at her feet. Her hair was still dripping, but she had changed into a pair of his sweatpants and a big sweater, a towel at her feet, protecting his hardwood floor from her wet clothes. She didn't look up when he walked in and set down the two mugs.

"I'm sorry for just showing up. I can go if you don't want me here," Massie mumbled, eyes still focused on her feet. "I know it's late."

Derrick snorted as he sat down beside her on the bed. "Please Block, for you to show up after eleven, he must have really upset you."

She shrugged noncommittally and abruptly curled into a ball, hiding her face between her stomach and her knees. Breaking out into a fresh set of sobs, it took her several times to get her sentence out fully. "He cheated on me!" She wailed, shaking furiously.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer, and rested his cheek on the top of her head as she quieted down and opened up into him. After a few moments of somewhat comfortable silence, Derrick cleared his throat.

"He's a scumbag, and you can do better," he announced.

Massie laughed, albeit quite bitterly. "He's your best friend Derrick."

Derrick rolled his eyes and shook her. "_You're _my best friend Block," he told her firmly.

It seemed irrelevant to point out that Derrick would quite like for them to be more than best friends at this point. Massie was at his house crying over a different boy. Derrick had literally hit the brother zone. He had moved past the friend zone into the fucking _**brother zone**_. That had to be a new record for teenage boys. His inner thoughts were rudely interrupted by Massie stretching up and pressing her lips against his. After a few moments, Derrick pulled away.

"Block, what are you doing?"

"Getting back at him," she murmured defiantly. "Are you going to help me?"

Derrick Harrington may have been a good person. He was also a seventeen year old boy who was in love with his best friend. And that best friend was now practically throwing herself at him, even if it was just a revenge hookup. Stronger than he would have given in, it took barely a thought for him to fall backwards onto his bed, bringing Massie down with him.

* * *

Monday at school Massie ignored him. Derrick tried not to think of it as her ignoring him. They didn't actually have a lot of time to spend together, they usually _made_ time and it didn't mean anything that Massie wasn't making time that day. It did however; mean something when he spotted her holding hands with Cam and smiling as they walked into the cafeteria at lunch. He swallowed down his rage with a large bite of his sandwich, and felt Claire pat him sympathetically on the shoulder, shooting him an empathetic look.

When the happy couple arrived at their table, Cam's expression darkened when he saw Derrick. Massie, seemingly unaware that Derrick existed, slid into a seat between Alicia and Chris and opened her salad. Cam sat down in the last empty seat, directly across from Derrick, glaring at him.

"Massie told me what happened."

Derrick didn't even bother pretending to play dumb. "Okay. She also told me you cheated on her."

They were both careful to keep their tones even, so that no one outside of their lunch table would hear the tense conversation. Their table had fallen completely silent, staring at Derrick and Cam in shock. Massie clearly had told anyone other than Derrick about the Cam situation.

Cam shrugged his shoulders. "She forgave me, and we're still together. Which means you need to stay away."

Derrick rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I'll stay away from Block when she wants me to stay away from her."

"She does want you to stay away." Cam's expression was deadly serious as he looked at the boy that used to be his best friend.

"Block?" Derrick asked, tearing his eyes off of Cam and focusing on her. "Do you want me to stay away from you?"

Massie stared at her salad and didn't answer. After a few moments of tense silence, Derrick got to his feet, sliding his chair back.

"Don't worry you two, I'll stay out of your fucking lives," he announced quietly and grabbed his school bag, doing his very best not to storm out of the cafeteria.

"What the fucking hell Massie!" He heard Alicia snap and was surprised that the Spanish girl caught up to him a few moments later, followed by Josh.

"You guys don't have to leave because of me," he said, without looking at them as he opened his locker and packed his bag. There was no way he was staying at school after that.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay," Alicia told him gently. "We're your friends."

Josh nodded his agreement, fingers laced in Alicia's as they gave him concerned looks. Derrick shut his locker and turned to face them, feeling eerily calm.

"I'm fine you guys. I don't need anyone in my life that doesn't want me in theirs." He shot them a weak half-smile and strode out of the school.

* * *

It ended on an early Sunday morning.

It was exactly four weeks since the Sunday when he had slept with Massie. Derrick was curled up in his den at three in the morning. He had been watching Orange is the New Black all night and jumped startled, when someone banged on his front door. He contemplated ignoring it, assuming it was ridiculous thirteen year olds disturbing his neighbourhood. When they banged again, he got up and unlocked the door.

She was standing in the exact same spot she had been in a month ago. This time her hair and eyes were dry, and her voice was even when she spoke.

"What the fuck do you want Massie?" She flinched at the use of her first name.

"Can I come in?"

"I thought you wanted me to stay away," he replied coldly.

Massie just stared at him, not willing to let herself be dragged into a fight. He rolled his eyes and moved out of the way, leaving her just enough room to squeeze through.

"Are you sure your jailor is okay with this?" Derrick asked scathingly, as she sat down on the couch in his den.

She shrugged. "It really doesn't matter what Cameron likes or doesn't like. I broke up with him."

"At three in the morning?"

She nodded.

"How cruel of you."

Massie shrugged again. "He's an asshole. He deserves someone that will treat him the same way he treated me and I wish I had been smart enough to see it sooner."

"That's fantastic Massie. Thanks for the update. You can go now."

She stared at him, shocked. "Derrick, I broke up with Cam. For you."

"Sounds like you broke up with him for _you_ actually. Good for you. Get out of my house. You made it clear you don't care whether I'm in your life or not. I'll make the decision for you. Get the fuck out of my house."

She looked crushed, and Derrick almost took it back. Massie stood up and made her way out of his house, pausing in the doorway as if she was about to speak. He spoke before she could.

"Massie when I asked you if you wanted me in your life you said nothing. There's nothing to say now. Goodbye."

He shut the door in her face and locked it.

* * *

Two more weeks passed, and although Derrick could feel Massie staring at him every day at school, she didn't try and speak to him again. It was time for graduation, and of course the phenomenal Massie Block was valedictorian. As she stepped up to give her speech, Derrick tuned most of it out, until she was almost finished.

"What I've learned from high school is that you need to surround yourself with the best people you know. With that in mind, I'd like to apologize to Derrick Harrington. He's _**the**_best person I will ever have the pleasure of meeting. Unfortunately, while I learned algebra early on, I didn't learn how important he was until he was gone, and all I had left was algebra."

There were a few chuckles. Massie continued. "So Derrick, I'd really like to apologize for how stupid I was. Our friendship is more than just seeing each other five times a week. I'd like to get that back."

* * *

He didn't talk to her until the grad party that was thrown at Alicia's house. She was drinking beer, nose crinkled at the taste. When she saw him, her amber eyes lit up hopefully.

"Derrick, I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven Block." She smiled, knowing she was actually forgiven, now that he was calling her Block again.

As they moved in to a familiar hug, he knew that they would be alright. _Better than alright_, he mused to himself as he felt her arms lock around the back of his neck and pull him down towards her.

_Fin._


End file.
